


The Night You Left

by Veronicas_Hazel



Series: The Tales of The Black Brothers [1]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), My first fic, POV Regulus Black, Regulus Black Deserves Better, Sirius Black Deserves Better, The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, i don't think this is as gutwrenching as i wanted it to be, i've tried writing this three different times before figuring it out, no beta we die like legit everyone, sirius runs away, that's just a little less sad, this one's a sad one, umm i don't know how to tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:34:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29221758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veronicas_Hazel/pseuds/Veronicas_Hazel
Summary: The Beginning of the End.Sirius runs away.
Relationships: Orion Black & Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Regulus Black & Walburga Black, Sirius Black & Walburga Black
Series: The Tales of The Black Brothers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2145534
Kudos: 8





	The Night You Left

**_Three days till Christmas, 1975_ **

The shouting had been drifting up the stairs for the last hour and a half. It had started with two voices, his Mothers' and Sirius', his Father a silent participant to their Mother's cruelty. The voices eventually dissolved into one, his mothers'. It was then Regulus ventured out of his room, cursing his own cowardice for not trying to stop her, taking a seat on the old dark stairs of 12 Grimmrauld Place. he covered his urge to flinch at his Mothers' loud voice, the harsh frequent impacts of fists and wide palms meeting flesh, the occasional stinging hex, echoing into the hallway as his guilt urges to swallow him whole, only marginally softened by the fact that if he went in there he would only make things worse for Sirius.

_"Don't go in there Reggie, no matter how much i scream, i can't protect us both."_

_"Just look at what you've done to you brother, Regulus, this is your fault."_

But he can't, _he can't_ , listen anymore to his brothers pained grunts, because _he doesn't scream anymore,_ and he wishes he was more brave, more like Sirius, because he would never let Regulus be hurt by their parents. But Regulus isn't like that, he's like the Slytherins' his brother hates in that regard, looking out only for himself, biting his tongue and being an obedient son to people he shouldn't care about. he steels himself to the staircase, willing himself into compliancy like the coward he is, and he hopes for a distraction, he _hopes_ till he's sure that Merlin himself would hear his pleas.

Something shatters in the dining room.

He hears his Mother's cruelty stop in the room as she hears it too. She hisses at Sirius to stay where he is, and Regulus is lucky the dining room is right across from the stairs as his Mother and Father leave the room with their backs to him. It's not a moment too soon, when Sirius darts out of the room after them, heading straight towards Regulus and up the stairs behind him. Regulus turns to head up the stairs, but is stopped when his Mothers' booming voice calls his name.

Swiftly turning around he mourns the fact he wasn't able to escape, as he enters the dining room to find the cause of the shattering sound. A glass cabinet lined against the wall, it's glass door now sporting hole as if it had been broken by a ball, shattering the glass and old glass trophies of the Blacks. His Mother stands interrogating Kreacher, his Father standing behind her in silent support, and Regulus worries that she'll punish the poor elf.

it's just another thing that saddens Regulus in this house, to see how Kreacher is treated, it was the one thing he and his brother would never agree on.

Sirius hated the elf, and Regulus admits he can't blame him, his older brother's orders are the only ones Kreacher will not follow. The hatred had started when they were young, Sirius being the mischief maker he was would always pull silly little pranks on the elf or annoy Kreacher into doing things for him. The disdain only grew as Kreacher ignored Sirius requests, usually in favour of following orders from their Mother that would lead to him or Regulus being locked in the cupboard without food. Unlike Sirius, he had always felt bad for the poor elf, who was treated so poorly, he had always strived to treat Kreacher with kindness, something that pleased the elf so much that he was much more loyal to Regulus then the elf was to the family he was serving.

His Mother rounds on Kreacher, "What did you do to the cabinet, you stupid creature! Those trophies are priceless, and you broke them, you filthy elf!"

Kreacher cowers, his hands coming up to pull on his ears, "Kreacher is sorry, Mistress! Mistress is so good! Kreacher not knowing what happened to the cabinet! Kreacher is sorry! Kreacher will fix it!"

If anything, the show of weakness makes Mother angrier as she grabs Kreacher by the ears, "You useless elf! You cannot fix them! I ought to burn your hands on the stove! What did you do to my trophies!?"

the pain Kreacher is feeling is reflected in his face, and Regulus so hated seeing other's in pain, he steels himself to talk, "I apologise, Mother. I was playing with a ball when it bounced through the cabinet door, i promise i will see to it's repair."

Figures he'd defend the household elf but not his own brother. 

_"Why do you like the house elf, Reggie? all he is is moody and broody."_

_"Don't be rude, Siri, If you had to stare at your face all day you'd by moody too."_

His mother stares at him, and he knows if she hadn't just beaten Sirius he would have gotten more than the resounding slap he was given, as she dropped Kreacher and stalked forward. he bites his tongue to keep from making a sound, the iron taste of blood in his mouth. His mother stares at him again before hissing at him.

"Foolish boy."

After, she seems to forget he exists as she turns her eyes to the door calling to Kreacher, "Get me some elf wine." brushing past Regulus to head towards the living room, his Father only a few steps behind her, apparently having forgotten her punishment with Sirius.

Kreacher pops away and then it's only Regulus left standing in the dining room. He vanishes the broken pieces of glass with his wand, transfiguring the glass door back into condition, leaving the cabinet empty to fill later. He inspects the floor in a glance, checking he did not miss any bits of glass before finally leaving the room and resisting the urge to rush, heads up the stairs to his own.

Opening the door to room, Regulus frowns confused as he finds the room empty. When they were younger, Regulus' room was where they hid the creams and potions they needed after a round of Mothers' cruelty. Even as the grew apart, they'd sit in silence in his room as one patched up the other, never hiding their necessities in Sirius room in fear that if their parents went snooping, they would look in Sirius' room first.

_"Siri, why do we need all this? why are you hiding it?"_

_"Because, Reg, sometimes Mothers' cruelty gets out of hand. Mothers' shouldn't do that."_

He's beginning to think that Sirius wasn't in as nearly as much trouble as he thought when he hears a thump in the room across from his, followed by a curse. Closing his door, Regulus opens his brothers, watching as Sirius head shoots up caught like a child being naughty from a bag he's shoving clothes and things into. He sighs in something akin to relief when he sees it's only his little brother and not his parents, turning around to shove more shirts into his trunk.

Regulus can't remember the last time he was in his brother's room and he mourns the place, it had always been his safe place in his childhood. He remembers the days before Hogwarts where Regulus and Sirius would play in his brother's room, jumping around on the bed pretending to be wizards, dragons or whatever their imaginations could distract them with, as bittersweetness worms it's way into his happiest memories.

furrowing his eyebrows, he keeps standing in the doorway, "What are you doing?"

Sirius gives him an annoyed glare,"What does it look like?" he hisses, "close the door already."

Regulus steps in closing the door behind him, basking in the intense red glow of the Gryffindor room.

Sirius continues, "I'm leaving, I can't deal with this anymore."

his eyes widen, "This? leaving?"

Sirius locks his trunk, shrinking it to fit in his pocket, "This ridiculous family and their dark ways, their pureblood mania, i hate all of them."

Shock overwhelms him, "All of them?"

"The whole fucking tree, Andromeda was lucky she got out when she did," Sirius sends a baleful glare, unlocking his window, "If you knew what's good for you Reg, you'd leave too."

The indignant anger swells within him, because Sirius isn't suggesting that he come too, like he doesn't care what happens to him if Reg was to leave. He wonders where the brother he had before Hogwarts has gone, the one that before had told him he'd miss him, only to now proclaim he has a new family, new _brothers,_ that their family is evil, treating Regulus the same when he was sorted into their families house, citing him evil too. Regulus was just another _slimy_ Slytherin to Sirius too.

Sirius should know that he can't leave, because there is no way their parents would ever let them both go, that they'd drag him back like a dog on a leash, but Regulus can't leave now anyway, because Sirius is taking that choice away from him and he can't even be angry. He misses his brother too much to deny him this, the brother that would give him silly nicknames, would ruffles his hair and play along with his childish games, or help find the definition for a word for him when he'd try to read big books. He misses him so much that he knows if Regulus was to leave it wouldn't be him they'd drag back into the family. And it doesn't matter that his beloved brother doesn't feel the same for him, he owes him this.

He's too much of a coward to do anything else.

"So your just going to leave the family just like that?" _leave me,_ Regulus thinks to himself, and he can't stop the words from pouring out because he's still so angry, "After everything they've done for you?"

Sirius eyes narrow as he slips into a defensive stance, "What have they done besides hate and abuse me? They don't want me, i can't be their heir, Merlin Regulus, i thought if anyone would understand it would be you. But you're just the same."

He can feel the hurt rising right next to his anger, "Of course, i don't understand! I'm not the one who tossed our family aside for a new _light_ model, so he could frolic around like he's somehow above us. I could never abandon the family."

"Why Regulus? These people don't love you, they don't care about you! They only want you for your use! an obedient boy they can use to do their bidding because he's too much of a coward to do anything else. Merlin, i wonder how i ever thought you could be like me, but you can't because you, you disgust me." The venom drips from Sirius voice, and Regulus hurts so much, he can feel the bile rising in his stomach. 

_His brother hates_ _him._

Sirius has apparently given up on their conversation because he's in the window frame now, getting ready to jump and he's _not_ turning around, _not_ taking a glance back on what he's leaving, so Regulus let's his tears fall, because his brother is leaving, and he has to try once, "Just wait, Sirius please, you're nearly of age and then you'll be able to do whatever you want, just stay, don't throw it all away because of some people you only met four years ago, I- the family love you."

Sirius doesn't glance back, and the part of his face that Regulus can see looks unconcerned, "have fun with them, but there is no one in this house i'd stay for, because this isn't love, not this twisted shit." And he jumps out the window.

And Regulus feels his heart breaking because _yes there was_ , he'd just jumped out a window, and he feels the tears pour down his face, as he bites his tongue, filling his mouth with a metallic taste as he swallows down the sobs and bile threatening to come up.

He moves towards the window hoping against reality, that Sirius will be staring up at him, having changed his mind now that he'd touched the ground. But Sirius isn't in the front yard anymore and Regulus' eyes move up and down the quiet street, settling his eyes on a running figure, getting smaller and smaller from view as he turns the corner, not once hesitating. 

Regulus raises his chin, setting his jaw as the tears roll from his eyes down his blank face as he turns and leaves the empty bedroom, closing the door behind him to enter his own.

He takes a seat on the bed as the bile rises and he vomits all over the floor. He should call for Kreacher, or even clean it up with his own wand, but instead he lies down on his bed, turning onto his side so he can stare out the window, watching as the rain pounds against his window like running footsteps, and the light of the moon shines like the light of a light post guiding the way home.

He's alone now.


End file.
